No. 55 Crimson Falls Short of Earning Share of Ivy League Title

It all came down to freshman Hannah Morrill’s matchup with the Big Green’s Georgiana Smyser to determine the winner of the matchup and also potentially clinch a share of the Ivy League title. Morrill won the first set before Smyser challenged the rookie and took the second one, 6-3. Morrill was up early in the third set but ultimately dropped the matchup, 6-3.

Going into the last weekend of Ivy play, two things needed to happen for the No. 55 Harvard women’s tennis team to earn a five-way share of the Ivy League title: a win over No. 56 Dartmouth, and No. 50 Brown to defeat No. 34 Yale.

But the chance slipped away, with the Crimson (9-9, 4-3 Ivy) falling, 4-3, in a close match against the Big Green (14-8, 6-1) at the Murr Center on Saturday afternoon.

“It was a very exciting match that came down to the very last match in singles,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “My hat goes out to Dartmouth for the way they competed and the way they played.”

The Crimson started off strong, claiming the doubles point with victories on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts.

The top pair of sophomores Hideko Tachibana and Kristin Norton finished first, toppling their opponents, 8-2, to give Harvard the edge in doubles play.

“The doubles point is the first point of the match, so it’s crucial that we get off to a good start,” Cao said. “But in the end, it’s only one point of the seven, so you still have to perform well in singles.”

On the No. 1 court, No. 79 Cao made quick work of Dartmouth senior Molly Scott to earn the singles win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.

But the Big Green took back the momentum to tie up the match, 2-2, as both Blosser and junior Samantha Gridley fell in straight sets to Reichel and sophomore Christina Danosi on the No. 4 and No. 6 courts, respectively.

Tachibana regained Harvard’s edge with a victory at the No. 2 spot against Dartmouth sophomore Sarah Leonard, posting a scores of 6-3, 6-2.

But with two matches still to play, it was anybody’s game.

On the No. 3 court, the Big Green stayed alive as freshman Melissa Matsuoka defeated Norton in a close match, 6-4, 6-4.

With the overall score now tied up at 3-3, all eyes were on court No. 5.

Morrill took the lead, winning the first set, 6-3, but Dartmouth senior Georgiana Smyser fought back to claim the second set, 6-3.

Both teams’ chance at the Ivy title would come down to the third and final set.